Cotton Bowl 2018: Known Info Before Final Playoff Rankings Reveal
The Cotton Bowl has hosted a variety of teams since the inception of the College Football Playoff, and two unfamiliar foes are lined up to make the trip to Dallas for the December 29 national semifinal.
Clemson will become just the third ACC team to play in the Cotton Bowl, and it would do so as the No. 2 seed in the playoff.
Notre Dame should land at the No. 3 seed, and the Fighting Irish will be back for an eighth Cotton Bowl appearance.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
While the bowl matchups won't be known until Sunday afternoon, Clemson and Notre Dame should play in the Cotton Bowl based off the other two playoff teams.
With Alabama and Oklahoma projected to be in the other two playoff positions, the Crimson Tide should choose to play in the Orange Bowl instead of in a familiar locale for Sooners fans.
That leaves a matchup we've been projecting for weeks to take place on the final Saturday in December.
Clemson, arguably been as dominant as Alabama this season, earned its playoff berth by cruising to a 42-10 victory over Pittsburgh in Saturday's ACC Championship Game.
Although the Tigers were predicted to be near the top of the sport, they reached the final four in an unconventional manner.
Instead of having experienced signal-caller Kelly Bryant lead the team, the Tigers turned to freshman Trevor Lawrence, and they haven't skipped a beat on offense.
Lawrence's transition to the college game has been aided by a terrific running game, led by Travis Etienne, who totaled 156 yards and two touchdowns on the ground in the ACC Championship.
When he has to air the ball out, Lawrence has a handful of reliable targets, headlined by Tee Higgins. And then there's past playoff star Hunter Renfrow lingering in the background.
Lest we forget the Clemson defense has held three of its past four opponents to 10 points or less and limited six opponents to single-digit scores over 13 games.
Notre Dame locked up its playoff spot by completing its undefeated regular season with a win over USC on Nov. 24.
Although the Fighting Irish don't have a conference championship on their resume, they are more than deserving of being named as one of the top four teams in the country.
Brian Kelly's team handled a schedule chock-full of blue-blood programs, starting with a seven-point win over Michigan in Week 1, which was probably its best victory this year.
Notre Dame also experienced a quarterback change, as it opted to go with Ian Book over Brandon Wimbush, and the move's been successful.
Book's thrown for more than 300 yards in three of his past four games, and in the fourth, he totaled 292 passing yards.
Similar to Clemson, Book has a reliable running back in Dexter Williams, who is 59 yards away from 1,000.
But the difference in this potential matchup will be Clemson's defense, as it has the ability to shut down Notre Dame's running game and force the Fighting Irish into third-and-long situations for four quarters.
The game will be close, but Clemson will prevail and do its part to set up another showdown with Alabama.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
